ODE XI. TO MERCURY. O MERCURY, inspire my lay, (Rocks learnt Amphion to obey When taught by thee,)-teach me to play On seven-string'd harp : Harsh as thou wert, O harp! of yore, Thrice welcome now at every door; Make Lyde feel thy magic power Now soft, now sharp : She, like a filly, loves to frisk, And dreads t' approach for fear of risk; Unripe, she yet for husband brisk Feels no desire. Thee woods and tigers flock around, Whilst streams no more run o'er the ground; Grim Cerberus, at thy sweet sound, Relaxes ire; Whose head a hundred snakes infest, Thus, fury-like, he rears his crest! Whilst poisonous breath steams from his chest And three-tongued mouth. Quin et Ixion, Tityusque vultu Sicca, dum grato Danai puellas Carmine mulces. Audiat Lyde scelus atque notas Seraque fata, Quæ manent culpas etiam sub Orco: Impiæ, (nam quid potuere majus ?) Impiæ sponsos potuere duro Perdere ferro. Una de multis, face nuptiali Digna, perjurum fuit in parentem Splendidè mendax, et in omne virgo Surge, quæ dixit juveni marito, Surge; ne longus tibi somnus, unde Non times, detur: socerum et scelestas Falle sorores; Quæ velut nactæ vitulos leænæ, Singulos (eheu!) lacerant: ego illis Mollior, nec te feriam, neque intra Claustra tenebo. Me pater sævis oneret catenis, Quòd viro clemens misero peperci : Ixion, Tityus-in turn Unwilling at thy music, burn; Who mourn their youth. Let Lyde learn their cruel hate,- Which teaches all, that-soon or late Sentence most dire Hard as to fill a leaky cask— Of wedlock's fire! One virgin, worth a wedded state, In every age: 'Tis she who to her husband said, "Arise, and leave the nuptial-bed, Where, unsuspecting, nought you dread! O! cheat the rage "Of savage sisters who would tear, Like beasts, their victims, in their lair : But O! I could not hurt a hair, Nor keep you here. "Let cruel sire oppress with chains Because I spared a husband pains; |